The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[benfrankledger]

The number of rigs deployed in U.S. oil and gas fields has climbed for 10 weeks in a row but unfinished wells are surging, suggesting that oil market players may need to reinterpret rig count data; for example, a record 1,764 wells were left unfinished in the Permian Basin in February, and 395 wells were drilled during the month while only 300 were completed.